Quality assurance (QA) and associated nondestructive testing are account for approximately $1.5 billion in annual sales (see Table below). QA programs are commonly based on off-line testing of selected samples of products or product components as they move through the manufacturing process. Statistical methods are then applied to the test results to determine the probability of a defective unit being shipped to the customer. In such a QA process, money saved by not testing every product item can be quickly lost to systematic errors that may not be detected until late in a production run.
Enerize believes that in-line testing of every product unit at several points during production can be a cost effective approach to quality assurance. Such measures are especially important in cases where products may be mission-critical or where repair or replacement would be unduly expensive. Enerize NDT technologies allow 100% nondestructive quality control in the production of such devices as batteries, fuel cell, solar cells, and supercapacitors.
US Sales of NDT Systems By End-User Markets ($ Millions)
Market Sector
2002
2003
2008
AAGR% 2003-2008
Aerospace
228.5
232
274.0
3.4
Chemical/ Petrochemical
142.6
146
169.0
3.0
Manufacturing
139.5
142
185.0
5.4
Metals
105.0
107
117.0
1.8
Power Generation
211.4
220
282.0
5.1
Transportation Security
440.0
440
621.0
7.1
Other
88.5
93
121
5.3
Total
1,356
1,380
1,769
5.1
US Sales of NDT Systems By Technology ($ Millions)
